An educator's guide to sustainability with young learners

Water Cycle and Pollution Game

As this image from the United States Geological Survey shows, the water cycle has many steps and can go in multiple directions at the same time. It’s a lot for students to learn! To help them, we have a great game recommendation for you to help students see the full complexity of the water cycle in action.

The Water Cycle Game was produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and could be used for grades 1+. (It might be a little complicated for 1st graders, but with proper explanation should be a really meaningful addition to your study of nature, water, or human impact on the environment.)

The game requires a little bit of set-up, but is very simple. Each student portrays a molecule of water that moves through the environment. There are markers for each of the places a water molecule can go: animal, plant, cloud, groundwater, lake, ocean, river, glacier, and soil.

Once there, students roll a die (template included online; has to be assembled before playing). Each face of the die is something that can happen to that molecule. In the case of a molecule of water currently in the ground, it could stay underground, filter into a lake, or into the river. Each student rolls a die and then moves or stays accordingly. After playing the game for 10 turns or so, the game stops and students chart where they went. It gives students a fairly complex understanding of the possibilities in the water cycle.

The full instructions and materials are available on NOAA’s website for free download.

Extensions: After doing the game, the instructions suggest extensions for math or an extension to study how pollution moves throughout the water cycle.